Wall Street was slightly lower at midday on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.2 percent to 12,417.80. The Nasdaq Composite had lost 0.7 percent by mid-session, to 2,418.17, while the S&P 500 was 0.2 percent lower to 1,419.03. The small-cap Russell 2000 was down 0.3 percent to 779.90.
The New York Stock Exchange dropped 0.7 percent to $100.69 on the news that Euronext stockholders have approved a merger between the two exchange operators.
Electronics retailers were also lower. Best Buy fell 3 percent to $47.87, while Circuit City was 18.2 percent lower to $18.61. Circuit City’s declines came after the announcement that it had lost 9 cents per share its fiscal third quarter after having projected a profit of 5 cents per share.
Digital security company Applied Signal was down 16 percent to $13.22 after its quarterly report showed that its profits were only 5 cents per share, well below the expected 22 cent per share profit.
Software manufacturer Oracle dropped 4.4 percent to $17.13 even though its earnings report, released Monday, said that the company had equaled expectations.
Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, added 2 percent, to $81.96 after its profits hit $2.08 per share, well above its predicted profit of $1.77 per share.